Balance and harmony in the Gallup World Poll: The development of the Global Wellbeing Initiative module

Over recent decades, scholarship on wellbeing has flourished. However, this has been critiqued as Western-centric, firstly in terms of the location of research participants and scholars, and moreover in terms of the very ideas and values through which wellbeing is understood. In response to such issues, the Global Wellbeing Initiative – a partnership between Gallup and the Wellbeing for Planet Earth foundation – was created to look at wellbeing from a more global perspective. The centrepiece of this initiative is a survey module in the Gallup World Poll. This paper charts the evolution of this module to date, from its initial incarnation in the 2020 poll (featuring items on various aspects of wellbeing) to a finalized 2022 iteration (which focuses specifically on balance and harmony). With the 2022 version now intended to stay consistent longitudinally, this paper establishes a valuable baseline for this important project which will contribute to a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of wellbeing

The role of psychological distress in the relationship between illness perception and quality of life in patients with breast cancer

Objective: To evaluate the associations between the illness perception dimensions and quality of life, assessing the modulatory role of psychological distress in patients with breast cancer, identifying which of these dimensions explained further variability in the different aspects of the quality of life. Methods: Seventy-five patients were evaluated with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-30). We calculated bivariate and partial correlations to evaluate the associations between the illness perception dimensions and different aspects of quality of life, controlling for a distress measure. Subsequently, we performed linear regression analysis to evaluate the illness perception dimensions that could explain the variability in the quality of life scores. Results: Although significant associations between subscales of perception of illness and quality of life were found, most of them lost their significance when controlled by distress. In the regression models, variables that best predicted the variability in the quality of life were psychopathological diagnostic and distress. Conclusions: According with the study results, psychological distress and psychopathological diagnostic were the two variables that explained better the variability in the quality of life. For this reason it is essential to learn more about the role of these variables on the quality of life and morbidity and mortality associated with them

Rol del distrés psicológico en la relación entre percepción de enfermedad y calidad de vida en pacientes con cáncer de mama

Objective: To evaluate the associations between the illness perception dimensions and quality of life, assessing the modulatory role of psychological distress in patients with breast cancer, identifying which of these dimensions explained further variability in the different aspects of the quality of life. Methods: Seventy-five patients were evaluated with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-30). We calculated bivariate and partial correlations to evaluate the associations between the illness perception dimensions and different aspects of quality of life, controlling for a distress measure. Subsequently, we performed linear regression analysis to evaluate the illness perception dimensions that could explain the variability in the quality of life scores. Results: Although significant associations between subscales of perception of illness and quality of life were found, most of them lost their significance when controlled by distress. In the regression models, variables that best predicted the variability in the quality of life were psychopathological diagnostic and distress. Conclusions: According with the study results, psychological distress and psychopathological diagnostic were the two variables that explained better the variability in the quality of life. For this reason it is essential to learn more about the role of these variables on the quality of life and morbidity and mortality associated with them.Objetivo: estudiar las asociaciones entre las dimensiones de percepción de enfermedad y la calidad de vida, evaluando el rol modulador del distrés psicológico en pacientes con cáncer de mama e identificando cuáles de dichas dimensiones explicaba en mayor medida la variabilidad en los distintos aspectos de la calidad de vida. Método: setenta y cinco pacientes fueron evaluadas con el Cuestionario de Percepción de Enfermedad Breve y el Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida de la Organización Europea para la Investigación y el Tratamiento de Cáncer (EORTC QLQC30). Se calcularon correlaciones bivariadas y parciales para evaluar las asociaciones entre las dimensiones de percepción de enfermedad y distintos aspectos de la calidad de vida, controlando por una medida de distrés. Posteriormente, se ha realizado un análisis de regresión lineal para evaluar las dimensiones de percepción de enfermedad que podrían explicar la variabilidad en la calidad de vida. Resultados: si bien se encontraron asociaciones significativas entre las subescalas de percepción de enfermedad y calidad de vida, la mayoría de ellas perdían su significación cuando se controlaba por distrés. En los modelos de regresión, las variables que mejor predecían la variabilidad de la calidad de vida fueron el diagnóstico psicopatológico y el distrés. Conclusiones: de acuerdo a los resultados del presente estudio, el distrés psicológico y el diagnóstico psicopatológico fueron las dos variables que más explicaban la variabilidad de la calidad de vida. Por tal motivo se hace imprescindible profundizar en el rol de dichas variables en la calidad de vida y en la morbimortalidad asociada a ellas

Report based on comparison of case studies in different wild boar populations representative of the different management and habitat conditions across Europe

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Redshift distributions of galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification shear catalogue and implications for weak lensing

We present photometric redshift estimates for galaxies used in the weak lensing analysis of the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification (DES SV) data. Four model- or machine learning-based photometric redshift methods—ANNZ2, BPZ calibrated against BCC-Ufig simulations, SKYNET, and TPZ—are analyzed. For training, calibration, and testing of these methods, we construct a catalogue of spectroscopically confirmed galaxies matched against DES SV data. The performance of the methods is evaluated against the matched spectroscopic catalogue, focusing on metrics relevant for weak lensing analyses, with additional validation against COSMOS photo-z’s. From the galaxies in the DES SV shear catalogue, which have mean redshift 0.72 0.01 over the range 0.3 < z < 1.3, we construct three tomographic bins with means of z ¼ f0.45; 0.67; 1.00g. These bins each have systematic uncertainties δz ≲ 0.05 in the mean of the fiducial SKYNET photo-z nðzÞ. We propagate the errors in the redshift distributions through to their impact on cosmological parameters estimated with cosmic shear, and find that they cause shifts in the value of σ8 of approximately 3%. This shift is within the one sigma statistical errors on σ8 for the DES SV shear catalogue. We further study the potential impact of systematic differences on the critical surface density, Σcrit, finding levels of bias safely less than the statistical power of DES SV data. We recommend a final Gaussian prior for the photo-z bias in the mean of nðzÞ of width 0.05 for each of the three tomographic bins, and show that this is a sufficient bias model for the corresponding cosmology analysis

The Dark Energy Survey : more than dark energy – an overview

This overview paper describes the legacy prospect and discovery potential of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) beyond cosmological studies, illustrating it with examples from the DES early data. DES is using a wide-field camera (DECam) on the 4 m Blanco Telescope in Chile to image 5000 sq deg of the sky in five filters (grizY). By its completion, the survey is expected to have generated a catalogue of 300 million galaxies with photometric redshifts and 100 million stars. In addition, a time-domain survey search over 27 sq deg is expected to yield a sample of thousands of Type Ia supernovae and other transients. The main goals of DES are to characterize dark energy and dark matter, and to test alternative models of gravity; these goals will be pursued by studying large-scale structure, cluster counts, weak gravitational lensing and Type Ia supernovae. However, DES also provides a rich data set which allows us to study many other aspects of astrophysics. In this paper, we focus on additional science with DES, emphasizing areas where the survey makes a difference with respect to other current surveys. The paper illustrates, using early data (from ‘Science Verification’, and from the first, second and third seasons of observations), what DES can tell us about the Solar system, the Milky Way, galaxy evolution, quasars and other topics. In addition, we show that if the cosmological model is assumed to be +cold dark matter, then important astrophysics can be deduced from the primary DES probes. Highlights from DES early data include the discovery of 34 trans-Neptunian objects, 17 dwarf satellites of the Milky Way, one published z > 6 quasar (and more confirmed) and two published superluminous supernovae (and more confirmed)

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Children Working in the Carpet Industry of India: Prevalence and Conditions

This was a study of the prevalence of working children and child labor in the production process of the export-oriented handmade carpet industry in India in 2009-2011. The study included wool- processing activities (supplying the yarn) as well as carpet production and finishing. This study adhered to international standards by considering all persons younger than 18 years of age to be children. The methodology included preliminary qualitative research, development of a national sampling frame, and a large-scale cross-sectional sample survey of factory-based and household- based production. The survey estimated that 7,449 factories and 128,268 households were engaged in India’s carpet industry, employing a total workforce of 273,866 usual workers, of whom 13,131 (4.8 percent) were children. These estimates of the size of the industry and number and prevalence of working children were much smaller than earlier estimates. Earlier estimates of working children ranged from 32,647 to 356,000, with their prevalence in the industry workforce ranging from 7.1 percent to 58 percent.2 The earlier estimates labeled all working children as child labor. More than half (53.7 percent) of the child carpet workers were girls. Almost all (94.2 percent) the children working in the carpet industry in India were working in households. Almost all (98.8 percent) the children working in households and two-thirds (64.5 percent) of the children working in carpet factories were living with their parents. The study estimated that all (100 percent) children working in the carpet industry in India showed indications of being engaged in hazardous work (child labor). In addition, three-fourths (74.5 percent) of those children showed indications of working excessive hours. There were indications that a minority of the children and their families might be vulnerable to being in forced/bonded labor, as one-fourth of the households were indebted, and half of the indebted households reported having difficulties repaying their debts. Finally, there were indications that at least some children in the factory-based carpet industry may be in trafficking conditions. India’s labor standards defined children as persons younger than 14 years, defined the carpet industry to be hazardous, set the minimum legal age to work in hazardous work or factories to be 14 years of age, and exclude family-based workplaces from labor law regulation. None of the children working in carpet factories in India were below 14 years of age. One-fourth (26.3 percent) of the children working in the household-based industry were below 14.ILAB_Prevalence_and_Conditions_India.pdf: 1970 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Children Working in the Carpet Industry of Pakistan: Prevalence and Conditions

This was a study of the prevalence of working children and child labor in the production process of the export-oriented handmade carpet industry in Pakistan in 2009-2010. The study included wool-processing activities (supplying the yarn) as well as carpet production and finishing. This study adhered to international standards by considering all persons younger than 18 years of age to be children. The methodology included preliminary qualitative research, development of a national sampling frame, and a large-scale cross-sectional sample survey of factory-based and household-based production. The survey estimated that 646 factories and 39,366 households were engaged in Pakistan’s carpet industry, employing a total workforce of 105,915 usual workers, of whom 33,413 (31.5 percent) were children. Even though more than 33,000 children were found to be working in the carpet industry, the number and prevalence of working children and the size of the total industry were much smaller than earlier estimates. Almost all (96.3 percent) the children working in the carpet industry in Pakistan were working in households. Almost all children working in carpet households and carpet factories (91.7 percent and 94.0 percent, respectively) were living with their parents. More than half (53.6 percent) of the child carpet workers were girls, but the factory-based children were predominantly (78.1 percent) boys. The study estimated that all (100 percent) children working in the carpet industry in Pakistan were engaged in hazardous work (child labor). In addition, the data showed indications that four- fifths (81.1 percent) of the children worked excessive hours. There were strong indications that many children working in the carpet industry and their families were in forced/bonded labor, as one-fifth of the households were indebted, and two-thirds of the indebted households reported having difficulties repaying their debts. Pakistan’s labor standards defined the industry as hazardous and established 14 years of age as the minimum legal age to work in hazardous work or in factories. Since half (50.1 percent) of the children working in the industry and 56.6 percent of the factory-based child workers were below 14 years of age, their employment was in breach of Pakistani law.ILAB_Prevalence_and_Conditions_Pakistan.pdf: 1305 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Child Trafficking and Bonded Labor in the Carpet Industry and Sending Areas in Nepal

This report presents the results of a rapid assessment of child trafficking and bonded labor in the carpet industry in Nepal. This study complemented the project’s large-scale Prevalence and Conditions Study in Nepal to further our understanding of the existence and conditions of child trafficking and bonded labor. Carpet production in Nepal was highly concentrated in factories in the Kathmandu (KTM) valley, where the factory-based labor force was primarily composed of hired workers, most of whom had migrated to KTM to work in the carpet factories. For that reason, research on child trafficking in the carpet industry in Nepal concentrated on the migration of children from rural areas to work in the carpet factories in the Kathmandu (KTM) valley. This rapid assessment had a mixed methodology design that started with households in the sending areas (source of migrants) and tracked the journey of children from there to where they worked in the carpet factories. The methods included a survey of sending and non-sending households, qualitative interviews with school teachers/principals in sending areas, focus group discussions with children in sending areas, structured interviews with and case studies of child workers in carpet factories, and interviews with labor contractors and managers of carpet factories. Families that had a child working in a carpet factory (sending families) were predominantly ethnically Tamang, as seemed to be the case with most households in the local communities where sending families were concentrated. When sending families were compared to non- sending families (families that did not send any children to work in carpet factories) in the same communities, the sending families were larger and poorer and had other family members who had previously migrated to work in the carpet factories. Sending families were characterized by poorer educational indicators, including low education levels among adult members, low levels of school participation and enrollment among children, and a greater age-grade delay for the children who were enrolled. Those educational differences appeared to be related with household attitudes toward work and education. Heads of household of sending families seemed to have lower expectations about education and to be more open towards child work in general and towards the positive aspects of work in the carpet industry in particular. Children who emigrated to work in carpet factories dropped out of school before emigrating. Some of those children may have been performing poorly or were not interested in school, but most seemed to be pushed to migrate due to household poverty or family conflicts. Most children travelled during the Dashain and Tihar festival period, a time when workers and labor contractors from carpet factories who had returned to visit their hometowns were returning to KTM. Those visitors from the carpet factories may have enticed children to emigrate, either directly through promises or cash advances to the child’s parents, or indirectly by providing role models to children, who were impressed by the visitors’ apparent wealth and lifestyle. The migration process was highly organized. Although children usually agreed to migrate, the move was usually arranged by a labor contractor, who would sometimes give an advance payment to the child’s parents. Children generally migrated to work with a labor contractor, relatives, and/or friends, travelling by bus to KTM. Once the children arrived in KTM, they typically lived and slept in the carpet factories. Some children migrated multiple times, returning to the villages for festivals and then returning to KTM. Once they arrived at the factory, inexperienced children spent between two and three months in training, during which time they received only lodging and sometimes food as compensation. When they had learned the required weaving skills, children started being paid in cash and kind (food and lodging), in most cases receiving a fixed salary from the labor contractor. Once a child became an experienced weaver, he or she might be able to negotiate the terms of payment. That would typically mean an upgrade to being paid on a piece-rate basis, although that upgrade might happen only after the child shifted to another factory. Most children working in the carpet factories endured poor working and living conditions, including unsanitary surroundings, low quality food, long work hours, and abuse from supervisors. Children were vulnerable to deceptive and coercive practices from factory managers and contractors. In many cases, children started in debt or became indebted to the contractor and/or factory manager and had to work for long periods of time before the debts were cancelled and the children were permitted to leave their jobs. The exploitative working conditions of those children qualified as forced or bonded labor, which meant that the organized process of transferring the children from their rural homes for the purpose of working in the carpet factories in KTM was child trafficking.ILAB_Sending_Areas_Nepal.pdf: 66 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020